The Rising
by moonswirl
Summary: Okay well this will start off like a big redo (well, medium redo) of the top of season four. Minor change, lineup is Prue, Phoebe, Paige... well you'll see.
1. CA1&2 Teaser

"THE RISING"  
  
by moonswirl [or Moonie Moon for the 'prophecy' peeps ;)]  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine, blah blah... More on this in A/N2  
  
Summary: Okay well this will start off like a big redo (well, medium redo) of the top of season four. Minor change, lineup is Prue, Phoebe, Paige... well you'll see.  
  
Rating: PG I guess  
  
Category: AU, duh. Couple wise, we've got some [Pi]/L, Ph/C for now, later we'll see.  
  
Author's note 1: Review = happy writer. Happy writer = more story ;)  
  
Author's note 2: For a big while it's gonna be redoing of episodes. From teaser to chapter 7 it's Charmed again parts 1 and 2. Those two are very close to the original episodes (so lot of dialogue not mine), but I figured since those eps were big on the exposition, i shouldn't mess with them too much. Further episodes will be more different I promise. Don't stop yourself from reading though ;)  
  
TEASER  
  
The lone figure sat huddled within the shadows of the attic. So much had happened in this place, more than most people ever imagined could. But now that had all changed. Now something had happened, something terribly wrong, and everything they'd come to cherish about this place had been gathered up to slap them in the face. Their sister had been taken from them. No longer would the light she seemed to project whenever she stood among them brighten their lives.  
  
But Prue couldn't leave it alone, it just wasn't right. She was the Big Sister, it was her role to keep her family safe, now more than ever. And now there was only one thing she knew to do to fix this... to try. So with a broken voice, she recited the spell she'd learned by heart over the days she'd contemplated her actions.  
  
Power of the witches rise  
  
Course unseen across the skies  
  
Come to us who call you near  
  
Come to us and settle here.  
  
She looked down at the bowl sitting in her lap, mixed ingredients almost staring up at her in defeat as she let herself cry.  
  
"Please..." her voice was barely a whisper, looking up at the moon outside the window, "Please... just give me my sister back..."  
  
"Prue?" Her head shot up at the sound of the voice, turning back down almost disappointedly when she saw her tiny glimmer of hope had once again been put out.  
  
"Phoebe, I..." The youngest Halliwell sat next to her sister, taking the bowl from her and putting it aside before turning back to Prue.  
  
"It's the middle of the night, why are you up here?"  
  
"You know why..." Prue looked down.  
  
"We've been over this. I miss her... so much. We all do. And I wish there was some way to make it all better, but there isn't. We've tried it, and it hasn't worked."  
  
"It should have." The sisters hugged tightly, the only thing keeping them going being the ongoing presence of the other.  
  
"We should get some rest. Piper deserves this happening properly." Prue nodded and they stood, walking out of the attic arm in arm.  
  
They wouldn't know that the very next morning, bright and early, a young woman's path would redirect itself their way through the intervention of a suddenly-appearing newspaper. They wouldn't know she saw the section telling of the funeral services held that day for Piper Halliwell and hurriedly left the social services office where she worked. They wouldn't know... not before much more happened, changes and surprises just waiting for the right time to reveal themselves... 


	2. CA1&2 Chapter One

Chapter 1  
  
The residents of Halliwell Manor started their days feeling much like robots. They did what they had to do almost like machines. It was easier to try and focus on the day, than to think about its purpose. Victor had arrived early that morning, fully intent on helping with preparations. Only when he got there he couldn't. He tried, and his hands would shake if he ever tried. So he was told to go sit down, try to compose himself, prepare himself for what was ahead.  
  
He'd thought he'd known sadness until the day he found out his daughter had died. It had been told to him by an Inspector Morris, a friend of his daughters as he remembered. The girls themselves were too heartbroken to go anywhere, and they didn't want to have him learn about it over the phone, or on television... He sat catatonic on his couch for some time after finding out. The Inspector had stayed with him the whole time.  
  
"Can I get you anything?" he was brought back from his reverie by the sound of his youngest daughter's voice. He looked up at her, taking her hand.  
  
"Oh, no thanks sweetie." She nodded and went off to take care of the plants. And then...  
  
"Phoebe..." Looking up, she gasped, hurrying to greet the man with a long embrace.  
  
"Cole!"  
  
They talked briefly, Cole telling her things he knew she didn't want to hear but had to. And then Darryl arrived, informing them that Piper's case had been assigned to someone else. Like they needed something like this. Some of them were stronger, slightly able to handle something like this. But then the others...  
  
Upstairs, Prue sat outside her sister's room, almost keeping a vigil in front of it to prevent anyone from disturbing the way things had been left in there. In a way that was a part of her sister and she'd be damned if she let someone change it. But then... her vigil had the slight purpose of keeping her here. Suddenly all of the courage she'd put together for this had flown away. She'd failed her little sister, no matter what anyone said she knew that was the truth. She should have been able to protect her, do... something, anything to keep her alive.  
  
She barely took notice when someone came to sit at her side. She'd seen who it was and maybe that was why she couldn't look at him. She knew he was hurting too, just as much as they were, but she couldn't help feeling some awful things about him.  
  
"We have to go."  
  
"I'm not."  
  
"You know that's not true."  
  
"Isn't it? How would you know, you're not ME."  
  
"Prue, I..."  
  
"No, I don't want to hear it, not again. 'I'm there for you', 'I can help you', 'You're not alone'. Well, guess what, I AM alone. That's how I feel, and no one will make that otherwise," she stood, facing away from him.  
  
"Prue..."  
  
"Why didn't you save her?"  
  
"I tried."  
  
"Not hard enough. Why didn't you?"  
  
"I know you're angry..."  
  
"Angry? Oh no... I'm not angry. There are no words for what I am. Combine angry with about fifteen synonyms and you might be in the vicinity of a neighboring universe. She was your wife, Leo! Why didn't you heal her first? I'm just your sister-in-law, she was... she was your..." Once again, the increasing use of the word 'was' had overwhelmed her, and she began to cry. Leo stood and tried to hold her in his arms to comfort her, but she pushed him away at first. Eventually though she let herself be held, perhaps tired of fighting it. "This just can't be happening... It's not real... It's not..."  
  
"I know it isn't."  
  
*  
  
Finally, they'd all managed to face the music, and had piled up into their cars to go to the cemetery. Sitting in the foldable chairs, watching the ceremony, the white casket... The tears began, Phoebe crying into Cole's shoulder, Prue into her father's as Leo held her hand. The spat that had been going on with them over the past few days had now been replaced by a friendship like they'd never had.  
  
After the priestess had done her part came the one the family got through only thanks to seeing how many people had come to remember their sister, reminding them just how loved she'd been. And then one girl came, and it stirred something in Phoebe as they spoke, like she knew her somehow. She couldn't explain it and then they'd shook hands. Phoebe had had a premonition, bringing on the image of her current nightmares, the demon Shax. Only when she regained her senses, the girl was gone. They tried to go after her, but then...  
  
Two bounty hunters appeared on either side of Cole. Everyone scrambled into 'position', either standing back in safety or fighting, which was Cole and Phoebe. Prue however was another story altogether.  
  
"ENOUGH!" she cried as Cole got rid of the second hunter. "I can't take this anymore, can't we even bury our sister in PEACE!" She stomped out of the room, chairs flung through the air as she made herself a path away from the others, looking after her and to each other in shock. 


	3. CA1&2 Chapter Two

Chapter 2  
  
Once they'd returned home, Prue had quickly excused herself from the mourners gathered for the wake and went upstairs. Phoebe let her go, knowing there was nothing they could do about it. Besides, they had other issues.  
  
She told Leo and Cole about the girl, and the premonition she had about her. In close proximity to people who knew nothing of their activities, they soon had to move to the side to continue their conversation. As they were discussing vanquish plans though, Prue returned. She did not look happy about what they were suggesting. And she quickly made it clear that her outlook on things had tipped to the 'opposing' camp.  
  
"Don't ask me to go out and risk my life like that. Not anymore, alright? I've had it! How can you even think that I would go?" she asked Leo, almost daring him to try a response. She was almost shaking by now.  
  
"Prue, please try to stay calm..."  
  
"You want me to be calm? I would think you of all people would get why this can't happen again." She saw the pain in his eyes, making her dial it down. "No more Charmed Ones. No more fighting. I'm tired..." And she went back upstairs. Leo tried to follow, but Phoebe knowing her sister, knowing the feeling of total defeat trapped in her heart, held the whitelighter back.  
  
"No, let her go. She needs to be alone... for now. I agree with her, Leo. But I can't let that girl die either... I can't let Shax do that again."  
  
So the decision was made. Phoebe, along with Cole would go out and try to find this girl apparently targeted by Shax, and they would save her. After informing her father, who didn't seem too keen on letting her go, they started to leave. They were stopped by the arrival of Darryl and the Inspector in charge of the case. Once they'd managed to get away from him, thanks to Victor, the two left, hoping their 'target' wouldn't be too hard to find.  
  
Up in the attic, a stone-silent Prue forcefully placed five candles in a circle and lit them before looking down at the Book of Shadows, reading over the spell, and readying herself for...  
  
"Hear these words, hear my cry  
  
Spirit from the other side  
  
Come to me, I summon thee  
  
Cross now the great divide."  
  
Within the circle, lights began to appear, and suddenly Prue felt a hint of happiness, the one brought to her by her dear sister Piper. But that faded just a bit when she saw it wasn't her sister but rather her grandmother.  
  
"Grams..."  
  
"Hello, my darling. How are you?"  
  
"How am I? Grams, do you know what's going on here?"  
  
"I didn't mean it like that... How are you holding up?"  
  
"Not even a little bit," she looked down, then curious, "But why are you here? Why now and not before when I..."  
  
"I couldn't, Prue. I was... busy."  
  
"What could have been so important?"  
  
"I was with Piper." Prue's throat squeezed up, dry.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Grams nodded. "How is she? Is she okay?"  
  
"Your mother and I are helping her through this."  
  
"But how is she?"  
  
"I'm not allowed to tell you now... just like you're not allowed to see her, at least not for a while anyway.  
  
"Why?" Prue asked, feeling like someone was kicking her in the gut repeatedly with every word her grandmother spoke.  
  
"Because seeing Prue right now, speaking to her, keeps her alive for you. Which keeps you from being able to move on with your life, to continue your destiny."  
  
"Destiny? We don't have a destiny, not that one, not anymore... Piper's..."  
  
"I know, sweetie. I know... but if there's one thing you've learned over the last three years, it's that there's a reason for everything... which means there's a reason for this, too. Your destiny still awaits... Blessed be." And she disappeared in those same lights she appeared in, leaving behind a very baffled Prue.  
  
*  
  
Elsewhere in town, the girl of Phoebe's premonition was having herself a great time at P3, with her boyfriend Shane. And when she decided to take him to the roof, she felt energized, had no idea that within seconds everything would change for her in ways she could never have imagined.  
  
As she was kissing Shane, a great wind caught up and from the corner of her eye she saw... a terrible great beast of a man. With a blast, the beast sent Shane flying before turning turning on the frightened Paige. He prepared for another blast, she could tell. Even though she knew it wouldn't do much, her arms flew up to her face to try and shield herself and all she could think at that moment was how much she didn't want to be there.  
  
And then it happened. She felt herself get almost pulled apart. Only it didn't hurt. Everything became bright, almost serene for a second. That all went away quickly though and she was back on the roof, feeling scared. She looked up at the beast and saw it looked perplexed. She took that as her opportunity to run away and made a mad dash for the door.  
  
As she ran down the stairs, trying to go faster than her legs would allow, but she could already hear the wind... he was coming back, coming after her again. She tried to go even faster and before she could get much further she saw a man and a woman appear before her. Despite her shock she listened to the woman who told her to leave.  
  
Phoebe and Cole had a small 'brawl' with Shax before Phoebe was able to say the spell and Shax 'winded away'. It was only after that they realized they'd lost the girl again... 


	4. CA1&2 Chapter Three

Chapter 3  
  
"Are you sure she orbed? Are you sure that it wasn't something else?" Leo asked Phoebe and Cole. They had returned to the manor and immediately relayed the news of their innocent's unknown abilities.  
  
"Leo, she disappeared. Bright white, shiny thingies came and then she reappeared. What else could it be?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"It just doesn't make any sense."  
  
"Why not?" Cole jumped in.  
  
"Because why would Shax want to kill a whitelighter?"  
  
"Maybe he doesn't know she's a whitelighter."  
  
"Right, the Source sends out his personal assassin, but doesn't know who he's after?" Behind them, the sound of plates being almost forcefully dropped in their places on the shelves made them remember of Prue's presence in the kitchen. She hadn't said a word yet, but they had an impression that when she did, it wouldn't be good. The three acknowledged her before continuing, their voices a bit lower.  
  
"Is it possible that she didn't know that she was a whitelighter?" Phoebe asked her brother-in-law.  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"Because she acted as if she didn't. She acted just as surprised as we were when she orbed out," Cole explained.  
  
"Well that doesn't make any sense either."  
  
"Okay, why don't you go up and ask the Elders what does make sense so we don't go risking our lives again?"  
  
Leo had been a real trooper considering what he'd been through. Truth was focusing on this made getting through the days easier, so he didn't protest much. He looked at Prue, who he knew was having trouble with all this right now. "I'll be right back." He orbed out. Phoebe breathed deeply, trying to stay calm. Cole put a hand on her arm as he spoke.  
  
"Maybe I should, uh, go to the other side and see what I can find out." Phoebe looked up.  
  
"No."  
  
"I'll be careful. Nobody'll see me. Besides, it could be good to me to go back down, confuse any bounty hunters that might be trying to track me. Don't worry. I won't disappear." The two kissed and Cole left, the two sisters now alone. Prue stood silent, facing the cabinets, holding carefully in her hands a coffee cup with a little chip missing on the handle. Phoebe approached her slowly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked her. Prue laughed to herself.  
  
"Yeah, sure... I'm just fine. It was a lovely day, we should be doing it soon again..." she spoke, sarcasm dripping from her every word.  
  
"Prue..." She turned, putting the cup down on the counter.  
  
"No, don't even go there. Phoebe, have you completely lost it? I would think that even you would have the sense not to tempt fate like that after what's happened."  
  
"She's an innocent."  
  
"And so was Piper." Both were quiet. Prue had the beginning of tears appearing in her eyes. "After seeing Mom get taken, then Grams, now Piper... I wonder if that'll keep happening, and here you are proving me that it probably will! Haven't we lost enough? Haven't... haven't we..." Phoebe hugged her sister, feeling herself breaking as well.  
  
"Please forgive me..."  
  
"I don't want to lose you too... I wouldn't survive it..."  
  
*  
  
Prue stood in the middle of a barren field, alone. She looked around, wondering how she'd gotten there. She turned and turned and nothing was there. But on one turn there was something... a door. She hesitated at first, but finally she reached for the handle and pushed the door open.  
  
When she walked in, she was in the hall at the manor. There was no one there, until...  
  
"Look, I know that this all sounds incredible, but it doesn't make it any less true. Alright, you're a healer, you do good, now either you have saved too many lives or you're about to save a life that they don't want you to save." She became wide-eyed as she observed herself, and Dr. Griffiths, and... Piper. Apparently, they didn't seem to be able to see her. They continued to talk, and like the nightmares she'd been having, it happened.  
  
Shax arrived. This Prue and Piper were knocked to the floor as Shax advanced on the doctor. This Prue tried to stop the demon and was thrown through the wall, then Piper. Shax killed the doctor, then he left. Prue approached, looking at the prone forms of herself and her sister.  
  
Shortly after, Leo and Phoebe orbed in. "Oh my God..." Phoebe cried as Leo crouched down to heal them. He looked at both of them, a hard decision forming itself in his mind. He reached to Piper and began healing her. And she woke up. This was different, which made Prue shocked. This nightmare had always been the same.  
  
Leo then went on to try and save this Prue. And he failed. This Prue was dead... All disappeared except the two Prues, one live, one dead. The live Prue approached her dead self, observing her like she was a foreign object.  
  
She looked up as she sensed someone's presence. There was Piper, transparent, bleeding from several wounds. She looked at her live sister with a frightening anger on her face.  
  
"Why did you do it Prue?" her voice echoed.  
  
"Do what?" Prue asked. Piper disappeared, then reappeared before Prue, looking even more dead.  
  
"You killed me..." She stared her big sister down deep and Prue felt pain build at the pit of her stomach, felt herself crumbling to the ground as her dead sister looked at her, devoid of emotions  
  
That was when she finally awoke, in a sweat like none before, breathing heavily. This hadn't just been a dream, not even a nightmare... It had been a nap, then an almost prophetic revelation.  
  
*  
  
After trying to recover from her nightmare, Prue went down into the living room, where she found Phoebe sitting next to the fireplace. Prue had been wondering when her youngest sister would break, and now it seemed that was imminent.  
  
"Hey," she sat across from her.  
  
"Doesn't seem real, does it?" Phoebe stared into the flames.  
  
"No. I walk by her room and I keep thinking 'what are we going to do about that?', as much as I'd like to we can't just leave it there. What are we going to do with her car?"  
  
"I don't know. Sell it, I guess."  
  
"Unless you want it."  
  
"No." Phoebe took Prue's hands in hers, and Prue could tell they were shaking. "We're gonna get through this, you know. We just have to stick together."  
  
Leo orbed in and the sisters looked up at him. "Well?" Prue asked.  
  
"Well, they don't know anything about her, so she's definitely not a whitelighter."  
  
"Then why can she orb, Leo?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"They can't explain it." The girls stood.  
  
"Then how is it possible that they don't kn..." At this point, Cole returned, looking like he'd been in a fight or two... or three.  
  
"Whew. Sorry I took so long. I had to dodge a couple of bounty hunters."  
  
"Did you find anything out?" Leo asked.  
  
"You have no idea what I found out. Turns out the Source doesn't think she's a whitelighter at all. In fact, he thinks she might be another... Charmed One. That's why he put Shax on it. He thought he ended the Power of Three. Now he's worried that this girl may somehow reconstitute it."  
  
"No, but that's not possible. Is that possible?" Phoebe asked Leo, to which she got a shrug. However, Prue had a different reaction, as she started off toward the stairs. "Prue?"  
  
"Prue?" Cole asked as well. The three followed as Prue arrived into the attic with a beeline made toward the book.  
  
"What's going on?" Phoebe asked her sister.  
  
"I don't know, why don't we ask Grams..." she began to flipping through the pages quickly and forcefully.  
  
"Grams?" Phoebe asked, confused.  
  
"Yeah, Grams. She's being all cryptic, going on about how our destiny still awaits, and how there's a reason for everything. Maybe she should get her ghostly self back here and explain to us just what that means," she finally found the page.  
  
"Okay, but what should..." Phoebe started before Prue began reciting, her words well pronounced and pointed.  
  
"Hear these words, hear my cry  
  
Spirit from the other side  
  
Come to me, I summon thee  
  
Cross now the Great Divide.  
  
Staring at the circle of candles intently, she waited as her grandmother took form.  
  
"Prue? Why are you calling? P-Phoebe, wha-what's going on?" Penny Halliwell asked, feeling cornered by her granddaughters.  
  
"Grams, why does the Source think that the Charmed Ones can be reconstituted?" Prue asked, putting emphasis on the last word.  
  
"I do - I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Sorry Grams, that's not gonna work, I've known you too long. No lies."  
  
"If you know something, Grams, you have to tell us. We deserve to know," Phoebe stepped in.  
  
"I can't. I'm sworn to secrecy."  
  
"By who?"  
  
"By me," came a voice out of nowhere, before Patty Halliwell appeared beside her mother, "By me."  
  
"Mom?" Prue asked. Patty began to pace.  
  
"We didn't tell anybody because we were afraid that there would be reprisals, afraid that, you girls would be denied your powers. Your birthright. It happened after your father and I were divorced, when Sam and I were together."  
  
"Sam?" Leo asked Cole.  
  
"Her whitelighter," he explained. Prue looked at Cole, expecting him to comment in some way, but he didn't, as though he didn't think it would be appropriate knowing what had happened to Piper.  
  
"Go on," she told her mother.  
  
"You were both toddlers. You just thought Mommy got a little fat," she smiled to herself, almost fondly, then, "You never knew I was pregnant."  
  
"I was the only one who knew," Penny spoke up.  
  
"And Sam, obviously."  
  
"Right. Well, yes, of course."  
  
"We wanted to keep the baby, of course. But mother-" The 'audience' could tell that part of the story was still attached to some pain for her, even years later.  
  
"Well, I-I knew it would be disastrous. You know, before Leo and... and Piper, it wasn't just forbidden. It was unthinkable for witches to be with whitelighters. I mean, let alone have children with them."  
  
"So, that's why we had to - why we decided... to give the baby up. Sam and I took her to a local church as soon as she was born. And we asked the nun there to find a home for her, and she found one. A very, very good home."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Explains why the Elders didn't know about her," Leo looked at Prue and Phoebe, who were still taking things in, some more reluctantly than others.  
  
"Alright, hold it. Wait just one minute. Are you telling me, that that girl, our innocent, is really... our sister?" Phoebe spoke almost despite herself.  
  
"Your baby sister," Patty nodded.  
  
"Their baby half-sister," Penny corrected.  
  
"But by my half, which makes her a sister witch. Well, actually, not yet anyway. Not until all three of you are here together by the Book. Just like before."  
  
"Charmed. Again," Penny smiled. The door burst open, interrupting all other conversations as they turned to find Darryl, accompanied by a gun-wielding Inspector Cortez. His attention right away goes to the ghosts.  
  
"Well, I'll be damned." 


	5. CA1&2 Chapter Four

Chapter 4  
  
The gathered group stood stone-silent, not daring to move too much. Finally, Prue broke the silence.  
  
"Darryl, get him out of here!"  
  
"He's a cop, Prue. And he's got a search warrant," he told her, painful as it was.  
  
"And believe me, I've found what I've been searching for," the inspector smiled to himself. Cole started to move toward him, but Cortez didn't let him get too far, pointing his gun at him. "Ah-ah-ah-ah. Don't move. I'll shoot."  
  
"Then so will I," Cole threatened coolly.  
  
"Cole..." Leo stopped him.  
  
"Okay Inspector, just put the gun down. There is a very good explanation for all of this," she started, then noticing no one else was speaking, "Feel free to chime in anytime, guys."  
  
"My whole life, I suspected evil magic was real, that there was something more. I've seen too many horrible things in the job to suspect otherwise, not the least of which are the two murders that happened here." The implications of what he was saying infuriated Prue to no end.  
  
"Are you accusing us... she was our sister!"  
  
"I've just begun to accuse you, lady!"  
  
"All right, fine. You caught us. Congratulations. So what are you gonna do about it? Shoot us?" Grams defied him in a grand air.  
  
"Easy, Grams. Not all of us are dead, remember?" Phoebe reminded her uneasily. Leo stepped up.  
  
"Alright, look, you can't arrest us, especially not them. Nobody will believe you."  
  
"Maybe not at first. I'm putting this whole place under constant surveillance. I'm taping your every move. Sooner or later, I'll catch you doing something uh, supernatural, and then..." Before he could continue in his tirade, he was knocked unconscious to the ground by Darryl.  
  
"I think you've been through enough today, huh?"  
  
"Thank you," Prue smiled weakly.  
  
"Darryl, go, get out of here. We don't want you to take the fall for this," Phoebe approached their friend.  
  
"No, it's okay."  
  
"No, it's not. This is our problem. He wants to expose us, not you. Let us take care of this, please?"  
  
"If you need me, you know where to find me, huh?" Phoebe nodded and turned to Cole as Darryl left.  
  
"It doesn't solve your problem. He's gonna wake up eventually. You've just bought yourself some time," he reminded her.  
  
"What you're gonna need, especially if you're gonna save your..." Leo started, and Phoebe finished, much to Prue's shuddering.  
  
"Sister?"  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for? Just write a spell. Get rid of him," Grams instructed her granddaughter.  
  
"Uh, get rid of him?" Phoebe asked, confused about just what she meant.  
  
"Well, you know what I mean. Dump him somewhere. Anywhere. With all the witches in this room, we oughta be able to do something with him. I mean, just start rhyming. Uh, take him away. Remove him now. Don't let him stay." Phoebe nodded and started to think.  
  
"Oh. Uh. We call the... spirits... to help undo and send him off to... Timbuktu!" she spoke with much hesitation, the last part accompanying Cortez' disappearance. "Whoa. It worked."  
  
"Yeah, but... Timbuktu? Phoebe!" Prue started on her.  
  
"Alright, well, it was the only thing I could think of that rhymed with undo," she almost blushed.  
  
"Peru, Pheebs?" Prue suggested, and for a second things were normal. But then...  
  
"Don't worry. Uh, I'll find him," Cole told them before shimmering out.  
  
"This... this is just too much, I can't..." Prue started, shaking her head.  
  
"Nobody can blame you for being angry, sweetie," Patty told her eldest daughter.  
  
"Angry? Yeah, you got that right. This is all just not making sense, and guess what, it sucks. After all these years you come in here and announce we have another sister and we're supposed to accept this? Damn it, Mom... Why... why today?" Prue asked, eyes shaking.  
  
"I know it's a lot, sweetie. More than anybody should have to deal with, but you're going to have to deal with it the best way you know how. Losing Piper, learning about another sister... this is your path. This is your destiny. Get angry at it, cry about it, but don't fight it. Or it'll consume you."  
  
"Come on, Patty. The rest is up to them," Grams told her daughter and the two disappeared in the same cloud of light they'd arrived in. All remained as they were for a few seconds before Prue started leaving the attic. The other two followed.  
  
"I can't sense where she is because she's technically not a witch yet," Leo told the sisters as they went down the stairs.  
  
"Alright, so all we have to go on is that church that Mom mentioned and the nun," Phoebe spoke.  
  
"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I am only doing this to save her. I'm not remotely interested in reconstituting... The Charmed Ones..." Prue stopped, and Phoebe and Leo looked up to see what she had. There she was, the girl, standing just past the open door, looking all kinds of nervous.  
  
"I, the door was open," she started, fidgeting, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here," she started to leave, but Phoebe ran after her and turned her back toward the others.  
  
"No, no, no. No, no. We were just coming to look for you."  
  
"You were?" she asked, surprised. Phoebe held on to her arm and led her toward Prue and Leo.  
  
"Yep. Come on in. Welcome. I'm Phoebe. And this is..." she started pointing to her sister, but before she could speak her name...  
  
"Prue. I know. I've been to the club. Pretty great," she spoke, still as uneasily as ever.  
  
"Thank you," Prue smiled courteously. "And you are?"  
  
"Paige. My name is Paige," she told her, barely breathing.  
  
"Hmm. Another P. Imagine that," Phoebe looked at Prue, who couldn't say or do anything at that.  
  
"It's nice to meet you," she held her hand out though.  
  
The moment Paige's hand touched Prue's, with Phoebe still holding on to the newcomer, a bright blue light came down on them from the chandelier. Paige looked around in shock.  
  
"Okay. What was that?" she asked as it stopped.  
  
"I think that means you're supposed to be here," Leo explained just as the doors slammed open, a strong wind knocking the newly reunited sisters to the ground. Shax appeared, his menacing self bearing down on them. He goes to strike as Leo jumps on his back. "Run! Get upstairs!" he instructed the girls, trying to hold on.  
  
"Leo!" Prue hesitated briefly, but finally the three ran off as told. Up in the attic, they closed the door, even if they knew it wouldn't hold him back for too long. They ran to the book, Paige following more as a need for companionship in this confusing moment.  
  
"What are we doing? What is that thing?"  
  
"We'll explain later," Phoebe told her as she and Prue paged through the Book.  
  
"Okay, just say this spell out loud with us, okay?" Prue told her.  
  
"Spells?" Paige repeated, "What are you guys, witches?"  
  
"And so are you. We hope," Phoebe told her. Before the shock could hit Paige, the wind broke through the door and Shax materialized, the image of her recent nightmares. Almost instinctively, though she had no idea what instincts those could be, she began to recite with the others.  
  
"Evil wind that blows,  
  
That which forms below.  
  
No longer may you dwell,  
  
Death takes you with this spell."  
  
Shax was instantly affected, and he exploded at last, leaving the three bewildered sisters to gaze at the spot where he'd been.  
  
"It's not enough. Shax was just the messenger," Phoebe started. "We gotta get the Source."  
  
"The Source of what?" Paige asked, out of breath.  
  
"Of all evil..." Prue completed hesitantly. Finally, the last few minutes resonated in Paige's mind... and she didn't like it.  
  
"What have you guys turned me into?" she asked before running out of the attic.  
  
"Paige?" Prue asked, but Prue stopped her.  
  
"Wait..." they stared at each other and sighed. So they really did have another sister... 


	6. CA1&2 Chapter Five

Chapter 5  
  
The next morning at the manor, Prue got an icepack out of the freezer and placed it on her brother-in-law's neck. "I'd like to know something. You keep healing all those innocents, but you can't somehow heal yourself?"  
  
"It's kind of hard to heal myself when I'm knocked out," he reminded her, holding the pack down. Phoebe walked in to hear the conversation in motion.  
  
"Leo, how is it possible for an angel to even get knocked out? I mean, you are, after all, technically dead."  
  
"Three years together, and now you're asking these questions?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"What I'd really like to know, is how exactly does a whitelighter get someone knocked up," Prue asked Leo, much to Phoebe's amusement.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"What do you think it means?"  
  
"If it's about Paige, I swear, the Elders had no idea that she even existed, or that she was your sister."  
  
"Sister witch," Phoebe corrected.  
  
"Half-witch, half-whitelighter," Prue re-corrected, "Remember that stunner? How could Mom not tell us?"  
  
"Well, it sounded like she didn't have much of a choice," Phoebe told her.  
  
"But we're her daughters. At some point, she could have..."  
  
"Maybe she just didn't have time to..." Phoebe said sadly.  
  
The sisters shared a meaningful look as the doorbell rang from downstairs. The group filed out of the attic and started down the stairs. Prue answered the door and was almost knocked to the ground as Darryl bowled past her. "Hi Prue," he told her, barely even paying attention to her.  
  
"Hi there," she responded almost sarcastically.  
  
"Where's Cortez?" he demanded.  
  
"Who?" Leo asked.  
  
"Inspector Cortez - the one I hit over the head, the one you said you would take care of. He's missing. Police inspectors are not supposed to be missing. Where is he?" Phoebe's face began to take on a rather strong redness.  
  
"Well, I kind of sent him to..."  
  
"Timbuktu," Prue cut in, slightly amused, "Couldn't find another word that rhymed with 'undo'... not even 'Peru'." Phoebe looked at her.  
  
"Okay, don't have to keep hitting me over the head with it, I get it."  
  
"Timbuktu..." Darryl repeated.  
  
"It's okay. Cole went to get him," Leo jumped in before Darryl lost it.  
  
"Cole?" Just as the word left his mouth, the demon in question shimmered in, looking very much like he'd been dodging energy balls for a few hours now.  
  
"Cole!" Phoebe gasped, but he held up his hand.  
  
"Wait." An energy ball formed in his hand, crackling electricity, and he stood at the ready. A bounty hunter blinked in and Cole tossed the energy at him, vanquish on contact. "Damn bounty hunters... they're like gnats."  
  
"Where's the inspector?" Darryl asked, getting in the demon's face.  
  
"Don't worry. I found him. Moved him to a place he can't tell a soul what he saw. Literally," he smirked to himself.  
  
"What do you mean?" Darryl asked, getting more infuriated by the second. "Where'd you put him?" Cole pointed to the floor.  
  
"In the basement?" Phoebe asked hopefully.  
  
"No. I think he means a little bit further down than that," Prue told her sister.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Cole, he's a cop. He's one of the good guys," Leo reminded him.  
  
"He's also the one who can expose them as witches. I think that you, above anybody, would want to avoid that at all costs."  
  
"Not at that cost. We have to save him."  
  
"Save him?" Darryl cut in, "What do you mean, save him? Wh-what's going on?"  
  
"You know what, Darryl?" Phoebe started to drag him to the door. "We are going to take care of this whole mess."  
  
"Wait a second. Hold..." he tried to resist.  
  
"You don't worry about it." And she pushed him out the door, closing it behind her.  
  
"Okay, there has to be a way to make Cortez keep his mouth shut, right? Leo?" Prue turned to him.  
  
"And what if he can't?" Cole asked her, "What if you two get exposed? What's to say the same thing won't happen to you that happened to Piper?" The sisters almost broke at that.  
  
"Well it's a risk we'll have to take," Phoebe told him.  
  
"Yeah well, you know what? There's another risk you guys have to worry about. On the way back, I heard gargoyles."  
  
"Gargoyles? Like... statues?" Prue asked.  
  
"That's only when they're in their resting state. They come alive to ward off evil. In this case, I think they're trying to ward off the Source. I think he's surfaced." Panic rose in the room within half a second.  
  
"Wait - what? He's here? Now? Where?" Phoebe asked nervously.  
  
"I don't know. Could be anywhere. Or anyone."  
  
"Probably came for Paige, but she doesn't stand a chance against him. She doesn't even know what her power is yet," Leo pointed out.  
  
"Leo, we don't stand a chance against him. Not without Piper," Phoebe told her brother-in-law, and the reminder of the loss of their sister and his wife ripped at their hearts like some violent claw.  
  
"But you might with Paige," Leo spoke slowly, "The new Power of Three."  
  
"Can you sense her?" Prue asked.  
  
"I don't think so. She's too new."  
  
"Well then we just have to start with the church, the one Mom told us about," Prue nodded to herself.  
  
"Prue..." Phoebe sensed a certain part of unwillingness in that statement.  
  
"Look, Phoebe... This whole thing with her, I'm having trouble with it, but I'm not gonna let her die because of that. That's not what Mom wants, and I know it wouldn't be what Piper would want." And the decision was made.  
  
*  
  
Elsewhere in town, Paige was getting ready for work, and something just felt off. Her bird, Oscar, was going positively nuts, and something about Shane didn't feel right. But she couldn't think about that. She had an important case to deal with at work. Abusive parents just got under her skin, especially this one. 'Don't worry about it, Paige. It's okay,' she told herself over and over, unaware that her fears were well founded, that her dear Shane had been possessed by something dark, something more sinister than she could imagine.  
  
*  
  
She arrived at South Bay Social Services, and a strange prickling on the back of her neck just screamed to her that something wasn't right. But she pushed ahead, got to her desk. When she did, she had the strongest urge to call her uncle, ask him something that had been on her mind since the previous night.  
  
"So, how's Aunt Julie? Yeah? Oh. Is her hip any better?" Just then she spotted a couple at the reception desk. It was them... the couple from the case. She shrugged it off, not wanting to lose her focus. "I'm sorry. Say that again? I got distracted." She kept her eye on the man, Jake Grisanti, like her life depended on it. "Hey, before you go, can I ask you a question?" she continued speaking with her uncle Dave. "Do you guys still go to that church Mom and Dad used to go to? Is there still a nun called Sister Agnes there? Yeah, right. The one that found me. No, no, I haven't spoken to her but something's come up, and I think I should." She saw Mr. Grisanti talking to her boss and she almost gripped at her desk. "Uh, Uncle Dave, I gotta go. I'll call you back, okay? Yeah, I love you too." She hung up and ran up to her boss. "Mr. Cowan."  
  
"Hey, look Paige. I got this, okay?"  
  
"No. But you can't let that little boy go home with that jerk."  
  
"Paige, number one, you don't know for a fact that he's abusing the boy. And number two, this is none of your business. You are an assistant, not a social worker."  
  
"That's because you're too cheap to make me one." Cowan almost rolled his eyes as he went into the meeting room and closed the door in her face. With an inward huff, she peered through the window. Grisanti gave her a look that sent chills down her spine before Cowan closed the blinds and she sighed, defeated.  
  
*  
  
Prue climbed the stairs to the second floor, searching for Phoebe as she held the phone book. Finally she found her in a place where she should have figured she'd be... Piper's room. She sat on her bed, holding snuggly in her arms a small pillow, with tiny pink flowers all over the pillowcase.  
  
"I found the church..." she announced to her younger sister slowly as she stood by the door.  
  
"So much fuss was made over this pillow..." Phoebe spoke, choking back tears.  
  
"Yeah, I remember..." Prue smiled lightly. "It was Mom's first. After she died, Grams gave it to Piper... Because she needed it, to hold on to her..."  
  
"It smelled like her, even years after..." Phoebe laughed in jumping bursts, sounding more broken than she had since it had happened a few days ago. "Sometimes I just wanted it, because I needed to hold on to her too... But I was too afraid to ask Piper, I didn't want to keep it from her. Even then... all those nights I felt that way, it was just waiting on my bed when I went down for the night. She'd let me put it back on my own, when... when I was ready." She took it close to her face, breathed it in. "It smells like both of them now..."  
  
"I think she'd want you to keep it." Phoebe laughed again in that same vibrating manner.  
  
"Yeah..." Prue sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I just... I miss her so... so much."  
  
"So do I," she let her lie her head on her shoulder. "Glad you finally let it out."  
  
"Had to be strong. For you, for Leo... for me. And then with Paige... I'm scared, Prue, I'm really, really scared. She was always there to keep us together, in all those times we butted heads." Both laughed lightly. Phoebe sat up, looking at her big sister. "How are we supposed to go on without her? How are we supposed to go up against the Source without her?"  
  
"I don't know," Prue sighed, "But all I know is we can't let Shax get another of us, even if we don't know her. She's our sister, and we have to protect her."  
  
*  
  
Back at the social services office, Paige was pacing like crazy. When she found out they'd let the boy go home with his parents, it made her furious. She nearly lost it on Grisanti, but finally she decided to get away, cool off. Besides, there was some place she needed to go.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Cowan asked.  
  
"Church." 


	7. CA1&2 Chapter Six

Chapter 6  
  
Paige cautiously walked down the church aisle, her shoes keeping a steady rhythm... click, clack, click, clack... Her heart was pounding just as hard. She spotted a nun standing at the side and approached her.  
  
"Excuse me. Are you Sister Agnes?" The woman turned.  
  
"Yes. And who might you be?"  
  
"I'm Paige. Paige Matthews," she told her, slight hope in her voice that her name alone would spark recognition.  
  
"No," she shook her head apologetically.  
  
"You might not remember me. I probably changed a little bit since you last saw me on August 2nd 1977." As soon as she'd spoken the date, the woman's face paled just a bit as she gasped.  
  
"Oh, dear Lord." Paige's heart became even louder as she followed the woman who led her into a small office. She hunched over a trunk, pulling out a wooden box. "I was just about your age, when they came," she explained, placing the box on a table.  
  
"They? My mother and my father?" Paige's heart leapt.  
  
"They came in a swirl of bright white lights just like... angels," the Sister sighed, then nodded as she remembered that day almost reverently.  
  
"White light," Paige repeated, feeling connections spring up in her mind. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, that's how they appeared, with you in their arms! I was stunned. I - I didn't know what to think. They said that you were in great danger, that they had no other choice but to give you up, to protect you." Paige could see it, feel it... how horrible.  
  
"Danger? What kind of danger?" she demanded.  
  
"Well, they didn't say. But I could tell from their pain that it must be very real. They asked me to find you a good home, a safe home, and to keep their secret... until you came looking," she smiled knowingly.  
  
"But how could they know?" Paige whispered.  
  
"Because you come from them, my dear," she smiled, and Paige smiled back, "As wonderful and precious as your adoptive parents were to you, you still come from angels." Sister Agnes reached inside the box and pulled out a comfortable-looking bably blanket, with a 'P' embroidered in one corner. "They asked me to save this for you for this day. It's what they bundled you up in," she handed it to Paige, who touched it at the same time as being afraid to damage it. "Your mother had only one request - that your name begin with a P." She thought of the Halliwell sisters... Prue, Piper, Phoebe... Paige. She really was one of them. Just then, there was a knock at the office door. Paige didn't look up, still entranced by this treasure from her past. "Yes, may I help..." the Sister began, but then stopped. When Paige looked up at her, the woman stood still like a statue. Paige gasped and stepped back, looking up to see...  
  
"Hey there Paige, how are you? We have to get out of here now, and you're coming with us," said the eldest, Prue.  
  
"What did you do to her?" Paige gasped again, pointing to the nun.  
  
"Oh, we just froze her. She'll be fine," said Phoebe.  
  
"Yeah. Good thing we got that potion right, who knows what could have happened otherwise."  
  
"Prue..." Phoebe drew her attention to the blanket in Paige's hands. Prue got the same faraway look on her face.  
  
"Is that our blanket?" she started to reach for it, but Paige pulled it back defensively.  
  
"No! That's mine! Leave me alone!" she pushed past them and out of the office.  
  
"Oh, she's family alright..." Prue muttered as they followed, out into the main church."  
  
"Paige. Paige. Paige!" Phoebe called after her.  
  
"Stop or I'll freeze!" Prue took her turn. Paige stopped, turned to them as they stopped too, a few feet away.  
  
"Okay, one she's a witch, two you don't have that power!" Phoebe whispered to Prue.  
  
"She doesn't know that," Prue whispered back.  
  
"Will you please just leave me alone?" Paige demanded as she began to leave again.  
  
"Look, we know what you're going through. We went through the same thing when we first found out we were witches, too," Phoebe told her.  
  
"I know you don't want to listen to us, but you have to. Someone's after you, someone bad." Paige turned to them again.  
  
"Trust you? You just froze a nun! How do I know you're not the bad ones?"  
  
"If we are then so are you, sis..." Prue dared her.  
  
"Prue," Phoebe looked to her older sister as Paige once more turned to leave.  
  
"Alright then, you try it."  
  
"You have a magical power, you know," Phoebe attempted. To their slight surprise, Paige stopped and turned. "Mmm..." the two approached the new witch. "At least, if you're a Charmed One, you do. And the sooner you learn it, the sooner you'll be able to protect yourself."  
  
"I have a power?" Paige asked.  
  
"According to the prophecy, the third sister has the power to stop time. Like Piper could," Prue explained, still so uneasy about speaking of her dear little sister in the past tense.  
  
"How does it work?"  
  
"You just... decide what you'll freeze," Phoebe nodded her head toward a stack of papers, being blown back and forth lightly by the wind of an open window. "And then you throw your hands out toward it." Paige did as told, feeling somewhat silly at it. Nothing happened. She looked to Prue and Phoebe.  
  
"Or, uh, you could flick your wrist. She used to do that sometimes..." Prue suggested. Flick of the wrist, no result once again. She looked at the sisters with a slight air of victory in her face.  
  
"Well, maybe I'm not one of you after all if I can't even..." The door of the church, which had been held open by a small block of wood jammed under it, suddenly clattered closed, making Paige jump. So on edge as she'd been with all that had happened to her lately, her hands bawled up and flew over her head.  
  
What happened next went by very quickly, but slow enough for her to register it. Something seemed to have appeared in her right hand, and was now pushing at her closed fingers to get itself out. She pulled her hand back in front of herself, fingers up, and uncurled the tight fist almost afraid of what she'd find in it. Three glowing orbs swirled around in her palm before shooting out toward... a cat, who must have wandered in from outside and caused the door to close. The orbs dove at it. As soon as they hit the cat, it flared momentarilly before stopping in its tracks.  
  
"Oh..." Paige whispered very slowly as the sisters took in this turn of events with much of the same silent surprise.  
  
"So perhaps the whitelighter in her makes it work differently?" Phoebe suggested, crouching to look at the cat. She reached out to pat its head and it unfroze, looking up at Phoebe, then Paige.  
  
"This is just great..." Prue muttered. Suddenly, there was a high pitch screeching sort of sound coming in from outside.  
  
"What is that?" Paige asked, breathing heavily.  
  
"I don't know," Phoebe told her, although she had a sneaking suspicion. The doors flew open, revealing a young man lying on the ground, looking up at them pleadingly.  
  
"Paige."  
  
"Shane?" she rushed to help him. "What's the matter? My god, what happened?"  
  
"I don't know. Someone's after me." She helped him up.  
  
"Paige!" Phoebe called, as she and Prue started following her.  
  
"Come on. Let's get out of here," Paige told Shane and they started off, the unfrozen cat trotting after them quietly.  
  
"Paige! Come back!" Phoebe called before she and Prue were suddenly thrown down. They screamed all the way as they slid down the aisle. "Whoo!"  
  
"What the hell was that?" Prue asked, catching her breath.  
  
"Good question." They turned to see the Sister had unfrozen as well, and was now staring down at them. She did not look happy, not one bit.  
  
*  
  
Back at the manor, some time later, Prue and Phoebe were retelling what had happened at the church to Leo and Cole.  
  
"So the Source was there, at the church?" Leo asked.  
  
"Well the gargoyles weren't exactly whistling Dixie, Leo," Phoebe told him.  
  
"Plus, we were knocked back on our butts by something and let me tell you, it was powerful... very," Prue winced, sitting back.  
  
"But if he was there, why didn't he try to kill Paige?" Cole asked, sitting across from them.  
  
"Maybe he didn't want to go up against the Charmed Ones," Phoebe suggested.  
  
"No, that doesn't make sense. He knows that Paige is new to her powers. If ever there was a time to attack..."  
  
"Wait a minute," Leo interrupted the demon, "What if he's not trying to kill her anymore? What if he's trying to lure her to his side?"  
  
"Translation please?" asked a clueless Phoebe.  
  
"The mythological window," Cole explained, wondering why he hadn't thought of it earlier.  
  
"There's a window of opportunity, an opening," Leo continued.  
  
"48 hours," Cole added.  
  
"Right, 48 hours where a nascent witch who hasn't chosen to use her powers for good or evil yet can be swayed either way," Leo sat.  
  
"Wait, so all he has to do is cast a spell on her?" Phoebe asked nervously.  
  
"No, he can't," Cole reassured her, "It has to be her choice, but he can tempt her, entice her. If he gets her to use her powers for evil..."  
  
"She becomes evil forever."  
  
"And just who put together that little party favor?" Prue asked, glancing at Cole. He looked to the ground. She turned to Leo. He looked to the ceiling. "Oh never mind..." she sighed.  
  
"Okay, so we have less than 24 hours to get to Paige and no idea how to find her," Phoebe sighed.  
  
"But I bet the Source does..." Prue pointed out, fury building in her about that fact.  
  
*  
  
"This is useless," Phoebe closed the Book of Shadows, cleared her throat. "We're never gonna find Paige without a little help," she spoke a little louder than needed. The book immediately opened of its own accord and began page-flipping before stopping on one entry. "Works everytime," she smiled to herself. "Okay, an enchantment spell. Wait. How is this gonna help find her?"  
  
"Well, maybe it's not to find Paige. Maybe it's so we can ID the Source. See here? "So she can reveal the evil within."  
  
"But that'll only help if we can find him..."  
  
"Maybe we can, or at least, maybe you can," Leo looked at Cole.  
  
"What does he mean?" Phoebe asked, suddenly nervous again.  
  
"Demons can sense the Source's aura. It's how he reminds us of his power, his reach. Maybe if I focus on it..."  
  
"Then he'll know you're doing it. And he'll find you..." Phoebe breathed.  
  
"Not if I was careful. It's your only chance at saving your sister.  
  
"Okay. So we need something to enchant," Prue spoke up.  
  
"Right, um..." Phoebe looked around, inwardly still unsure about this decision. She found something and reached for it. "Oh!" She held up a pair of pink kiddy sunglasses. "How about these?"  
  
"Phoebe..." Prue smirked.  
  
"What? They're perfect."  
  
"Oh great," the sisters held on to the glasses as they recited the spell together.  
  
"Magic forces far and wide,  
  
Enchant these so those can't hide,  
  
Allow this witch to use therein,  
  
So she can reveal the evil within."  
  
The lenses glowed briefly. "Hmm..." Phoebe looked at them.  
  
"You should try them, see if it works," Prue told her. Phoebe put on the glasses and looked around, stopping at Leo and smiling.  
  
"Well?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing. You look the same."  
  
"How 'bout me?" Cole asked. Phoebe turned to him and let out a scream. "What?" he asked, not knowing she saw him as his demon form Belthazor. "What do I look like?"  
  
"You look like hell," she took off the glasses. "Enchanting." Cole smiled as Phoebe looked to the ceiling. "Thanks for the magical assist Grams."  
  
"How do you know it wasn't somebody else?" Prue pointed out, making Phoebe inwardly a little happier for a moment.  
  
*  
  
Not long after, at social services, an angry Jake Grisanti left Mr. Cowan's office looking not at all happy, as his wife followed him. Paige, sitting at her desk, followed him with her eyes. No one had seen that something was different with her, that something dark had possessed her in some way. She silently followed the couple as they left the building. The force of the Source's pull had given her a momentary power boost, and as she stood a few feet away from the 'evil' man, she held out her hand. A single orb swirled out at the man, dove through his back.  
  
Grisanti stopped moving in a sudden gasp, clutching at his chest. "Jake, what is it?" his wife pleaded. He seemed absolutely terrified, slightly hanging in position. It was as though his heart refused to move forward along with his body, causing him great pain. "Jake!" Carol Grisanti whimpered, looking at the anguish in his face.  
  
Across the lot, Prue, Phoebe, Leo, and Cole arrived, scanning their surroundings. "I don't see Paige anywhere," Phoebe breathed.  
  
"Are you sure this is the right place, Cole?" Prue asked.  
  
"The Source is here. I can sense him."  
  
"Wait. There she is," Leo finally spoke up. Phoebe slipped on the sunglasses and looked at her sister, hand still outstretched. She was surrounded with a veil of black swirling energy.  
  
"What is she doing?" Prue asked.  
  
"I don't know, but she's got a black aura around her," Phoebe informed them.  
  
"The Source?" Leo guessed.  
  
"No. It can't be. If Phoebe saw my demonic self, thens he'd see his too."  
  
"Yeah. Well, whatever it is, it's not good. Come on." They approached their sister as they saw a small crowd was slowly gathering around the writhing man.  
  
"Jake! Jake!" Carol Grisanti continued to plead.  
  
"Paige? Paige? It's me, Phoebe. And Prue," Phoebe stood next to her younger sister.  
  
"He's evil. He's hurting his child," she spoke, sounding very much like someone possessed.  
  
"No. You're being seduced into doing this," Phoebe told her.  
  
"Enough of this," Prue stepped up, pulling Paige's arm down. "Leo, get her back to the manor. Now!" she pushed the girl toward her brother-in-law. He orbed away with her. At that moment, Jake dropped to his knees, feeling relief already. Carol crouched next to him.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Cole told the girls and they left.  
  
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Carol asked as Jake stood. "Maybe you'd better lay back down." But he'd seen what he had to do now.  
  
"I'm not covering for you anymore Carol. You keep your hands off our son." Hopefully, Paige would get the chance to see her first good deed as a witch happen, even if that hadn't been her intention... 


	8. CA1&2 Chapter Seven

Chapter 7  
  
Prue and Phoebe walked into the manor, still remotely shaken from the events over at the social services office. And they were about to get more shaken. "Leo, where's…" Prue started, as a nearby vase exploded and the sisters dove out of the way. Across the hall stood Paige, hand outstretched and a determined glare on her face.  
  
"I'm having a hard time convincing her that she is not evil!" Leo explained. "She found out about the other… side of her powers," he continued, dodging another blow which didn't come. Instead, there was a ripple on the air and the room froze. "Unfortunately…" he had started, but was affected by the freeze.  
  
"Unfortunately, she can't control which she causes?" Phoebe guessed as Paige turned her sights on them.  
  
"Oh great…" Prue muttered as Paige threw open her hand to unleash another swirl of orbs, directed at them. They ducked again and evaded the blow, which destroyed a lamp.  
  
"Bright side - at least she's getting the hang of her new power," Phoebe tried to latch on to a bit of hope. Prue, on the other hand, had reached her last straw.  
  
"That was Mom's crystal!" She rushed at Paige and got her down, Phoebe helping to keep her there as Leo unfroze.  
  
"… she doesn't control…" he stopped, when he realized what had happened.  
  
"Yeah, we got that, thanks!" Prue told him, struggling to keep Paige down.  
  
"Okay. Relax. Relax," Phoebe told her sister. Leo took over holding from Prue, who stood again. "Alright. Now what?"  
  
"We just better hope there's some Wiccan exorcism in the Book of Shadows because… yeah." She started for the stairs just as the lights began to flicker, on and off and on and off again. Shane appeared by the stairs. "Who are you?" He looked at Prue and his eyes were completely black. Before she could stop it, Prue was thrown up by an unseen force.  
  
"Prue!" Leo called after her.  
  
"Prue!" Phoebe yelled as well. He threw an energy ball her way, but she levitated off the ground and out of the way. She attempted to use her momentum and possibly knock him down, but he disappeared and all she managed to do was destroy the grandfather clock… again. Shane reappeared by the couch and Prue used her power to TK him back, as she and the others stood. He simply rose again, looking very much the sinister villain. Phoebe slipped on the pink sunglasses and stared at the man. What she saw made her skin crawl. "Oh, Prue! That's the… that's the…" She took off the sunglasses and went to hand them to her. "Loo… loo… loo… look!" Prue didn't take them, keeping her eyes on him.  
  
"I know who that is."  
  
"Your powers are strong, but will they be enough without the Power of Three?"  
  
"Shane, what's going on?" Paige asked, suddenly seeming normal again. The Shane-Source turned to her, his face looking almost sincere… almost.  
  
"It's okay. I'm here now."  
  
"Stay away from me," she started to inch away from him, shaking her head.  
  
"She still has free will. You can't force her to choose," Leo told him.  
  
"Oh, but she's already chosen, haven't you? Come with me. You'll be safe forever. I promise," the Shane-Source spoke sweetly to the new witch.  
  
"Don't listen to him," Prue instructed her baby sister, "He's lying."  
  
"They only want you for your power. You don't have to share it. It's yours," the Shane-Source spoke, most pretenses dropped at this. He turned into Paige's boss as he continued to speak. "You've already seen what you can do with it. You do what nobody else can do," said the Cowan-Source before morphing again. "You nearly saved my son from his father. From all the pain and suffering he's put him through," said the Carol-Source before another morph, this time taking the form of the Grisanti boy. "Please help me. Don't let him hurt me anymore. You're my only hope." He reached out his hand and Paige slowly took it.  
  
"No!" Phoebe yelled. The boy-Source turned his head toward her and his eyes were black like the Shane-Source's had been. He raised his arm and Phoebe lifted off the ground, suspended in a wave of electricity. "Help me!" she cried out. Instantly, Paige pushed the boy-Source down, causing Phoebe to fall free. Piper, Leo, and Paige, all went to help her up. And the clock, despite its damage, rang clearly as ever, announcing midnight… the end of the window.  
  
"Phoebe? That's it, you can do it," Prue helped her keep steady on her feet. The boy-Source retook its first form, Shane. "I guess blood's a little thicker than evil," Prue told him, with a sort of pride building in her. He looked at the clock, and the Source stepped forward, letting Shane fall behind him, unconscious.  
  
"I've broken the Charmed circle before. I'll do it again. Besides, it wasn't a complete loss. Thanks to Belthazor," he spoke slowly, and they could almost see the satisfied smirk under his hood.  
  
"What did you do to him?" Phoebe breathed heavily.  
  
*  
  
Near the social services office, Cole lied on the ground, bleeding profusely. He wouldn't last much longer. "Cole!" Phoebe finally saw him, as she and the others ran toward him. She fell down to her knees beside him, crying. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no…" She placed his head in her lap gently.  
  
"Paige, freeze him," Prue instructed the frightened girl.  
  
"I can't… I might blow him up," she shook her head.  
  
"You can do it. Just concentrate," Prue counseled her, her voice slow and reassuring. Paige nodded and held out her hand, breathing slowly. Two small orbs swirled into existence and flew down to Cole, who flared and froze. "See? No biggie," Prue smiled, and Paige did the same. "Heal him," Prue instructed Leo next.  
  
"You know that's against the rules."  
  
"Leo, screw the rules. The Elders owe us," Phoebe cried.  
  
"Even if I could, I could only heal his human half and that… wouldn't be enough power to save him," he explained as he kneeled as well.  
  
"Aren't I half whitelighter?" Paige suddenly spoke up. "I mean, couldn't I use my half to offset his half?"  
  
"It's worth a try," Leo agreed. "Take my hand." Paige kneeled beside him and did as told. "Hold your other hand over his wound." Together, the whitelighter and half-whitelighter worked and Cole was healed. He unfroze and breathed in deeply. Phoebe hugged him, overflowing with joy.  
  
"That was good, right?" Paige smiled to herself as Prue and Leo helped her up.  
  
"That was very good. Let's just hope it wasn't all for nothing," Prue assured her.  
  
*  
  
The next night, Prue, Phoebe, Cole, and Leo did something they hadn't done in what seemed like forever. They gathered around their table at P3, drink all around and the mood lighter than it had been in far too long. Leo offered himself to go place an order for refills and went off to the bar. Prue excused herself and followed.  
  
"Feels good to be here again," he told her when he noticed she was standing next to him.  
  
"Leo…" she started, looking down a bit.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I wanted to know… How are you doing?" His smile faltered a bit. "I mean, so much has happened and you've been so strong about it… How do you do it?"  
  
"It's denial, Prue," he spoke sadly. "Right now, there are a lot of important things happening and I'm needed. I have to focus on that, but at the same time it sort of helps. I couldn't deal with it… not yet."  
  
"If you ever need anyone to talk to…"  
  
"I will," he nodded, forcing a smile.  
  
"Okay," Prue nodded before looking down again.  
  
"Something else?" he asked.  
  
"Leo… Is it possible… that… my dreams are trying to tell me something? I mean, I know I'm not the one with the visions in the family, but… I've been having this dream… more like a nightmare actually… Something about it just feels too… too real."  
  
"It could be," he nodded. "What was it about?"  
  
"Nothing important for now…" she shook her head, not wanting to approach that topic with him. She went back to sit with the others. Leo followed a minute later.  
  
"Having fun?" Leo asked Phoebe and Cole, whose hands were still firmly clasped together.  
  
"Well I'm alive, that's worth some fun."  
  
"I'll drink to that," Phoebe smiled. "Don't ever scare me like that again," she told Cole, seriously.  
  
"Promise."  
  
"You okay?" Leo took his turn at asking that problematic question to Prue.  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
"Piper?"  
  
"Yeah. First the funeral, then all this thing with Paige, the Source… It's all so much in so little time and we didn't… mourn her. That's just not right."  
  
"I think we'll have the rest of our lives for that," Phoebe told her.  
  
"I'm still not sure about continuing on with this destiny thing. I need sometime to think about it. I hope you're okay with that," Prue looked to her sister.  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
"And I hope you're okay with it too," she turned to Leo.  
  
"They may not be, but I am," he nodded. Just then, Paige walked up seeming very hesitant about the approach.  
  
"So does this mean I get free drinks now?" Phoebe laughed. "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. It's not that I really drink or… Okay. I'm just gonna go," she started to leave, but Leo stood and stopped her.  
  
"No, Paige. You belong here, remember?"  
  
"You sure? I don't want to intrude."  
  
"Mmm. Come on. Come sit right here," she indicated the spot next to her. Cole stood and joined Leo. Paige sat.  
  
"Okay, so, uh, maybe Leo and I should go uh… pretend like we got something better to do," Cole told the girls before leading Leo away.  
  
"Good idea," Prue nodded.  
  
"Yeah," Cole continued as the men walked off.  
  
"I won't stay long. I just wanted to, uh, come by and thank you."  
  
"For what?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"For what? You mean, beside from saving my life?" Paige laughed. "I feel like I should bake you a cake or something," she spoke nervously.  
  
"Do you cook?" Prue asked, wondering if that gene had been passed to her as well.  
  
"No, no. Not really."  
  
"So how's Shane?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"He's okay, I guess, except I'm not too sure he wants to see me anymore."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," Phoebe almost cringed.  
  
"No. Can't say I blame him. You know? He doesn't know exactly what happened to him, but he knows it's something bad and he knows it's somehow connected to me."  
  
"Yeah, well, you're not truly one of us until you've dated a demon, or a… really hot con man, so, welcome to the club," Prue smiled.  
  
"Can I ask you a question?" Phoebe turned to Paige again.  
  
"Hm-mmm."  
  
"Why did you come to Piper's funeral? I mean, you never even met her, right?"  
  
"No. I never did. I don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but… I just feel like a part of me lost her too and I just… I felt drawn to her, to all you guys. I guess it was just a part of me trying to find out who I was." Prue and Phoebe looked at each other.  
  
"Come on. There's something we need to show you," Prue stood.  
  
"Show me what?" Paige asked, as she and Phoebe stood as well.  
  
"What good magic can do," Phoebe led them toward the exit smiling.  
  
So the new Sisters Three returned to Halliwell Manor, going up to the attic. As Phoebe placed the candles and lit them, Prue led Paige to stand just outside the circle before going around to the pedestal and finding the right page. Phoebe joined her, and together they intoned…  
  
"Hear these words, hear my cry,  
  
Spirit from the other side.  
  
Come to me, I summon thee,  
  
Cross now the great divide."  
  
Within the circle of candles, bright lights began to appear before depositing the ghost of Patty Halliwell. Paige looked at her, and somehow she knew who this was. She began to cry.  
  
"There's someone here we thought you should meet," Phoebe told her mother. Patty looked to the young woman standing there, almost in awe.  
  
"Paige…"  
  
"Mom?" she asked, her voice shaking with tears. Patty stepped out of the circle, corporealizing instantly. She opened her arms up and took Paige into them. Paige smiled, still crying as Patty stood back, still with her arms around her, to look into her eyes.  
  
"Welcome home," she nodded warmly before hugging her again, as Prue and Phoebe looked on, feeling a wave of happiness rarely felt on this level. It didn't matter that it wasn't Piper, though they would always miss her, it didn't matter that they didn't know Paige all that good yet… Their sister had come home. 


End file.
